A Twist in Time
by Percabeth4eva1
Summary: This is a rewrite of Dawn of the dead. It's another James and Lily come back to life story, but it takes place in an alternate timeline where Harry and Ginny started dating in Harry's fourth year after the Yule Ball, aside from that, everything else is the same. Hope you like it. ON HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: A little background info since there isn't enough room in the summary for it. While this a James and Lily come back to life story, it starts off in the summer between Harry's 4th and 5th years at Hogwarts. However, it takes place in a different timeline where Harry was actually the one who took Ginny to the Yule Ball and they started going out, much to Ron's dismay. And now, on to the story.**

* * *

It was a dark and stormy summer night in the village of Godric's Hollow. It was around midnight so all of the muggle inhabitants were asleep, completely unaware of what was taking place in the graveyard outside.

2 of the graves had been desecrated by the very people that they had been made for.

James Potter had just opened his eyes for the first in 13 years, the first things popping into his mind were the welfare of his wife Lily and his son Harry.

He tried to sit up only to bang his head on something hard. It was at that point that James realized that he was in a coffin.

"What the hell am I doing in a coffin?" James asked himself, right as he remembered the night Voldemort had found his family.

 _How am I alive?_ James thought to himself briefly before his primary concern became for the welfare of his wife and son. If he'd died than what had happened to them. James could only hope that Lily had managed to get Harry out of the Fidelius charm's range and apparated away.

With that thought in mind, James pushed the coffin lid open to find himself sitting his own grave.

He turned and saw another coffin next to his and when he read the tombstone, his heart sank into his stomach as he saw it read Lily Potter.

But he also saw his own name and he felt hope, since if he'd somehow been brought back to life, then maybe so had his wife.

James climbed out of his own coffin and opened the lid to his wife's and sure enough, while she was conscious, Lily Potter was definitely alive.

"Lily, wake up." James said, shaking his wife awake.

"James, what happened. I thought you were dead." Lily asked as she opened her eyes.

"Apparently we both are." James said, referring to the tombstone.

"Apparently so, but, where's Harry?" Lily asked.

"Judging by the fact that his name isn't on the tomb either, we can take some comfort in knowing he survived that night." James said.

Lily nodded and then said "But James, how long have we been dead? What if Harry's all grown up by now?"

"We need to get to Hogwarts. Dumbledore can fill in the blanks." James said.

Lily nodded as she allowed her husband to help her out of the casket and before either of them could take another step, suddenly they began to kiss passionately, seeing as they haven't been able to do so in they didn't even know how long.

When they broke apart, James said "We'll have to find a way to get to Hogwarts. We can't apparate without wands, we don't have a portkey or brooms and we don't know any places connected to the floo network."

"What about Bathilda. She doesn't live far from here and she could certainly bring us up to speed on how long we've been dead and where Harry might be. Not to mention her home should be connected to the floo network." Lily suggested.

James nodded, thinking that was their best bet to figure out what was going on and more importantly, where their son was now.


	2. Chapter 2

Bathilda was very irked when she heard someone knocking on her door at this hour. She was an old woman and she needed her sleep.

"What?" Bathilda asked as she opened the door to reveal James and Lily Potter standing on the other side.

"Bathilda, it's us, please let us in." James said.

"Who are you really? James and Lily Potter have been dead for nearly 14 years." Bathilda said, causing Lily to have to stifle her tears.

"Bathilda, it's really us." James said.

"Prove it." Bathilda said, not believing it.

"How can we do that?" Lily asked.

Bathilda thought about it and then said "Who did you invite to Harry's 1st birthday party and what was his favorite gift?"

"The only ones we invited to Harry's party were you and Sirius, but only you could come since Sirius was busy. Harry's favorite gift was the toy broomstick Sirius sent him." James said instantly.

Since the only people who could possibly know that were herself, James, Lily and maybe Sirius Black, that got Bathilda to believe them.

"Come in, quickly before anyone else notices you're here." Bathilda said, ushering the 2 inside her home.

"Thank you." Lily said as they sat down.

"I'm sorry but I don't have anything for you 2 to change into, but I can give you some food." Bathilda said, grabbing her wand and lighting a fire in her fireplace and began get out food.

"I'm sure that after being dead for so long, you 2 are quite peckish." Bathilda said.

"Thank you, but what we really need right now is answers. And a way to Hogwarts. We need to see Dumbledore." James said.

"Well, you should stay here tonight. I'm sure that the headmaster will have already turned in. Tomorrow morning you can use the floo network to go straight into the headmaster's study." Bathilda said as she served them.

"Thank you Bathilda. But now, can you tell us what's happened to Harry?" Lily asked.

"I am sorry, but I don't really know much about him. I have not seen Harry since he was a baby. Dumbledore can probably tell you more about him tomorrow. All I can tell you for sure is that he alive." Bathilda said.

"Thank you, for now, that's all we need to know." James said.

* * *

The next morning, James and Lily were standing in front of Bathilda's fireplace, each with a fistful of floo powder in their hands.

"Good luck." Bathilda said.

"Thanks and thank you for putting us up last night." James said as he tossed his floo powder into the fireplace, stepped into the emerald flames and said "Dumbledore's study."

And with that, he was gone.

"Thank you again." Lily said before she did the same as her husband and disappeared with the emerald flames.

* * *

Dumbledore was surprised when suddenly the fireplace in his office burst into green flames and 2 people he believed to be dead walked out of it.

"Professor." James Potter said, but before he or Lily could say another word, Dumbledore had his wand out and pointed at them.

"Reveal yourselves. How dare you take on the appearances of James and Lily Potter." Dumbledore said.

"Albus, it's really us. You can ask Bathilda Bagshot, we just came from her home." James said.

"I have a better way of revealing the truth." Dumbledore said and with a quick wave of his wand, a bottle and 2 flasks flew into his hand.

"Veritaserum. With this, we will know who you really are." Dumbledore said.

James and Lily both took the truth potion without hesitation.

"Are you really James Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes." James said emotionlessly.

"And are you really Lily Potter?" Dumbledore then asked.

"Yes." Lily said with the amount of feeling as James.

Dumbledore immediately administered the antidote to the truth potion and pulled both of them into a hug.

"Welcome back my friends." Dumbledore said.

"Thank you, but how are we even alive. And where's our son?" Lily asked, hoping to finally get an answer.

"I cannot answer your first question simply because I myself do not know. As for your second question, Harry is at 12 Grimmauld Place." Dumbledore said.

"So he's been staying with Sirius." James said relieved.

"No. James, as I am sure you're aware, no one else knew that you changed your secret keeper to Peter Pettigrew. Everyone believed that it was Sirius who betrayed you and not only that, Pettigrew framed him for killing him to. Sirius was in Azkaban for 12 years." Dumbledore said.

"Does that mean he escaped?" James asked.

"In the summer before Harry's third year at Hogwarts. It was in that year that Sirius came into Harry's life, explained the whole situation to him and to me and now Sirius is in hiding, though I believe that he and Harry write to each other." Dumbledore said.

"So where has Harry been growing up?" Lily asked, honestly hoping that it wasn't where she dreaded.

"Number 4 Privet Drive." Dumbledore said, waiting for Lily's outburst and she did not disappoint.

"HOW COULD YOU SEND MY BABY THERE? PETUNIA AND VERNON HATE MAGIC AND EVERYTHING THAT INVOLVES IT! THERE'S NO WAY THEY WOULD'VE TREATED HARRY PROPERLY, ESPECIALLY WITH THEIR OWN LITTLE BRAT! ALBUS DUMBLEDORE, YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS OR SO HELP ME YOU WILL BE THE ONE IN A GRAVE!" Lily shouted at the headmaster.

"Lily, I do in fact have a good reason for putting Harry with your sister. The bond of blood charm." Dumbledore said.

Than it all made sense to Lily.

"My sacrifice to protect son gave Harry an ultimate protection against Voldemort. And in order to ensure that protection held, you placed my son in a household where my blood still dwelled." Lily said, for while she was still angry at Dumbledore, at least now she understood his actions.

"Indeed. Not only would Harry's protection be strongest in your sister's home, but a house full of magic hating muggles is the last place anyone looking to harm him would look." Dumbledore said.

"Can we see him?" James asked, finally speaking up.

"We are currently using 12 Grimmauld Place as headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. I will call a meeting for tonight and after you revealed yourselves to the rest of the order, you will finally be reunited with your son. And tomorrow, we shall go the Ministry of Magic and have custody of Harry transferred back to you and hopefully get Sirius cleared as well. Until that time, I will be more than happy to answer any questions you have about Harry." Dumbledore said.


	3. Chapter 3

That night, once the entire Order of the Phoenix had gathered in 12 Grimmauld Place, Dumbledore called the meeting to order.

"Alright Dumbledore, so what was so important that you had to personally call an emergency order meeting?" Sirius asked.

"2 nights ago, the bitter return of Lord Voldemort (cue shudders from everyone except Sirius, Remus and Mad-Eye) was countered by an event that has worked out in our favor, as 2 of our own have returned as well." Dumbledore said.

"What are you talking about?" Molly asked.

"He's talking about us." James said as he and Lily entered the room.

Sirius immediately reached for his wand, only for Dumbledore to say "No Sirius, I have already confirmed that it really is James and Lily Potter. And while even I am unsure as to how this miracle has occurred, it is still a joyous occasion nonetheless."

Sirius immediately relaxed as he got out of his seat and walked up to his old friends.

"James, Lily, I'm so sorry. Your deaths were all my fault." Sirius said, only to have James and Lily both hug him.

"It wasn't your fault Padfoot. The only one to blame is that lying piece of filth Wormtail." James assured him.

"And besides, it may have been your idea to change secret keepers, but it was our decision in the end. If anything, we owe you an apology for not at least telling Dumbledore about the plan. It's our fault you were Azkaban." Lily said.

"Water under the bridge." Sirius said.

Molly was the next person to come to her senses as she walked up to James and Lily.

"You must be Molly Weasley. Dumbledore has told us about how you and your family have filled in as Harry's family nicely over the past few years. For that, we are incredibly grateful." Lily said.

"It was no trouble. You've a got a very polite young man for a son. I've honestly thought of him as more of my own son than my son's best friend." Molly admitted.

"I believe you forgot to mention that there's a good chance he might actually become family in a few years." Arthur said.

"Excuse me?" James asked.

"Harry is dating their daughter Ginny." Sirius explained.

"Anyways, while I must go, I feel that there is still one person that is being dealt a great disservice from not being told this information." Dumbledore said.

"I'll go get Harry." Sirius said.

"He can only stay to see his parents. After that, he has to wait until after the meeting to spend real time with them." Molly said.

"Rubbish." James said.

"What?" Molly asked.

"James, Lily and I spoke before we came here and we feel that since Harry's involvement in the war against Voldemort has become so great, James and Lily have decided that while Harry is too young to join the Order of the Phoenix, he will be given all information that has been denied to him this far, including the truth about why Voldemort tried to kill him when he was young." Dumbledore said.

"You can't be serious." Bill said.

"He's our son and we feel he has a right to know why everything has happened. However, he will forbidden from revealing any of the information to his friends." James said.

Dumbledore nodded as he left the room, followed by Sirius.

* * *

Harry was currently working with the rest of his friends trying to clean the house when Sirius approached him.

"Splendid, is the meeting over yet?" Fred asked.

"No, but I need Harry to come with me and only Harry. It's important." Sirius said.

Harry nodded as he put down his cleaning supplies and headed downstairs with his godfather.

"Why do you think they're including Harry in the meeting this time?" Ron asked.

"Don't know, all I know is that something must've happened if they're giving him more information." Hermione said.

"Maybe we should try and listen in." George asked.

"Too risky. I'm sure that mum put a charm on the door to keep us from listening in." Ginny said, though she wished she knew what her boyfriend was up to.

* * *

"Sirius, what's going on?" Harry asked.

"You'll see." Sirius said as he opened the door to the kitchen.

"What's going on here?" Harry asked as he entered the room.

"Harry, there are some people here who'd like to meet you." Remus said as suddenly a disillusionment charm was dropped and the last 2 people Harry ever thought he'd see came into his sight.

His parents. They both looked exactly how they had back at the graveyard, only this time they were solid and standing on the ground.

"Is this some kind of cruel joke?" Harry asked angrily as he reached for his wand.

"No Harry, this is not a joke. It really is your parents. Dumbledore confirmed it himself." Sirius said.

Harry was so shocked he dropped his wand.

"How?" Harry asked.

James smiled at his son and said "We have no idea."

"Then I don't care how." Harry said as he ran right into his mother's waiting arms.

"Don't ever leave me again." Harry said, barely loud enough for Lily to hear.

"We won't sweetheart." Lily whispered as she pulled her son into her chest as close as she could and gripped him tightly.

"Lily, if you don't let him go soon, you'll suffocate him." James said, trying to pry his son out of his wife's arms.

"I'm sorry." Lily said as she reluctantly released her son so he could hug his father, though James hugged Harry a bit more lightly than Lily did.

"Is this all you wanted to tell me?" Harry asked.

"Actually, your mother and I persuaded Dumbledore to tell you everything you actually need to know. Including something that you've been denied for too long already. The reason Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a baby." James said.

"Alright." Harry said, sitting down in a chair and prepared himself for the answers.

"The reason Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a baby was due to fear." James said.

"Fear, why would Voldemort be afraid of a baby?" Harry asked.

"Because of a prophecy that made around the time you were born. A prophecy that said The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. Voldemort believed that the prophecy referred to you and that in killing you, he'd be ridding himself of the one who was born to be his greatest enemy. However, his information was incomplete. He only knew that boy born at the end of July whose parents had defied 3 times in the past would be able to defeat him. He had no idea of the dangers that would come in attacking you." Lily explained.

"There's a record of the prophecy isn't there. That's what the Order has been guarding?" Harry said.

Sirius nodded and said "Yes, there's a record of the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry. Voldemort has been obsessed with hearing the whole prophecy out and he's been attempting to steal it in secret. As such, Dumbledore has had order members guarding the hall of prophecies to keep that knowledge away from him."

"Is there anything else I should know?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Voldemort did more that just transfer some of his powers to you when he gave you that scar. According to Dumbledore, he unknowingly created some sort of mental connection between the 2 of you. That's why your scar hurts when he's near or when he's feeling a particularly strong emotion. And it's also why I'm going to be giving you Occlumency lessons over the rest of the summer, in order to teach you to shield your mind from this." Lily explained.

"What's occlumency?" Harry asked.

"A magical defense of the mind against external penetration. I'll teach you how to do it in order to keep Voldemort out of your head." Lily explained.

"Now Harry, you can't tell anyone about the prophecy, do you understand." James asked.

"Yes, but what about Occlumency, Ron and Hermione already know about how I can sometimes see into Voldemort's mind." Harry asked.

"You can tell them about Occlumency, but that's it." Lily said.

Harry nodded, and feeling he'd heard all he was permitted to, he left the room.


	4. Chapter 4

After he'd left the kitchen, Harry ran up to his friends, eager to tell them the news.

"What's got you so happy?" Ginny asked her boyfriend.

"My parents." Harry said.

"What about your parents?" Hermione asked.

"They're downstairs." Harry said.

"What are you talking about? Your parents are dead." Ron said.

"No they're not. At least not anymore. They're alive again." Harry said.

"Harry, how is that possible?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, but I know what I saw. It's them Hermione. Sirius said that Dumbledore himself confirmed it." Harry said.

"Harry, you'll understand if we have a hard time believing you." Ginny said.

Harry nodded and said "You'll see at dinner. I promise you."

"We'll take your word for it, but anyway, did you learn anything else while you down there?" Ron asked.

"My parents explained the connection that seems to exist between my mind and Voldemort's and now my mother is going to be teaching me occlumency in order to protect my mind from it." Harry said.

"You're going to learn how to block the connection?" Hermione asked.

"Yep, I'm just glad that all the charges were dropped." Harry said, referring his disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic, which had been held on 2 weeks ago on June 30th ( **I know it was in August in the book, but I'm changing things up so Lily and James can celebrate Harry's 15th birthday with him** ).

"And I'm not sure that the Ministry can arrest you for that. Speaking of the ministry, do they know your mum and dad are still alive?" Hermione asked.

"I doubt it, otherwise it would've been front page news on the Daily Prophet." Harry said, right as Molly walked into the room.

"Dinnertime." Molly said.

"Mum, are Harry's parents really down there?" Ginny asked.

"Yes dear and Ginny, they are quite anxious to meet you." Molly said.

"Why me?" Ginny asked.

"They want to meet their son's girlfriend." Molly explained.

"Well then, we better not keep them waiting." Harry said, taking Ginny's hand and leading her downstairs.

"I want to meet Harry's parents to." Hermione said, practically dragging Ron with her as they headed downstairs.

* * *

Dinner went well, since both of Harry's parents approved of their son's relationship with Ginny, much to both of their relief. James and Sirius were now trading mischief stories with Fred and George, trying to figure out which duo had caused more chaos at Hogwarts, both sides laughing at the other one's tales with Ron, Harry and Ginny laughing at both sides while Remus brought Lily up to speed on Harry's education. Needless to say that she was very proud when she heard that her son was the top defense student in the school, and that Remus himself had taught Harry how to produce a patronus charm.

"Can Harry produce a corporeal patronus?" Lily asked.

"Yes, and it's a stag, the same as James's patronus and animagus form." Remus said.

"James will be so proud. But why is it that Harry's worst subject is potions?" Lily asked.

"Because he has a very biased teacher who hates him because of who his father and godfather are." Remus said.

"Severus is the potions master?" Lily asked.

Remus nodded and said "Yes, from what I can tell, when Slughorn retired, Dumbledore hired Severus as the potions master and let's just say his hatred towards James has definitely affected his treatment towards Harry."

"Better not tell James that." Lily said and Remus nodded, since he had no plans to tell James where Snape worked until after things with the ministry had been resolved.

* * *

After dinner, Molly and Lily sent everyone who was still in age up to bed before settling down in the sitting room with James, Arthur and Sirius.

"Thank you for looking after Harry all these years when we weren't able to." Lily said to Molly and Arthur.

"It was no trouble, we loved having Harry with us. It was only a shame that we couldn't watch him over the entire summer, but Dumbledore always insisted that he stayed with his aunt and uncle. At least now we know why and now he never has to go back to the horrid place again and live those disgusting people. No offense Lily." Molly said.

"Why would I be offended by a true statement. Petunia and I maybe family in blood, but that's it. Petunia made it clear she wanted nothing to do with me years ago and after how she and her walrus husband and whale son treated Harry, well, let's just say she's lucky we're estranged because if I ever saw her again, I'd kill her." Lily said.

"Well I'm going to kill Pettigrew when I get my hands on that worthless piece of slime. I still can't believe that even after everything we'd done for him, he still ratted us out to save his own skin." James growled.

"Maybe we shouldn't think about finding wormtail yet. You 2 should be more concerned about meeting with minister tomorrow. If we're lucky, not only will he officially proclaim you 2 alive and give you custody of Harry, but he might also clear my name of all charges and finally acknowledge that Voldemort is still alive." Sirius said.

"Good idea. And speaking of which, we should probably get to bed so we aren't exhausted tomorrow during the meeting." Lily said, taking her husband's and they went up to bed


	5. Chapter 5

Fudge was currently sitting in his office, making sure that all of the anti-Dumbledore and Potter articles were ready to be sent out to the Daily Prophet when suddenly his fireplace burst into emerald flames and Dumbledore came walking out of it.

"Dumbledore, how do you think you can just waltz into my office unannounced." Fudge snapped.

"Cornelius, please, before you have your security attempt to arrest me, I am sure that you are curious what brings me here." Dumbledore said.

"This had better not be anymore of that You-Know-Who rubbish." Fudge said.

"No, it has nothing to do with Voldemort, however, I am hoping that by the time we are done here today we will have finally ended that issue as well." Dumbledore said.

"Than what is it?" Fudge asked impatiently.

"This." James Potter said as Dumbledore waved his wand and suddenly his and Lily's disillusionment charms faded.

"What is the meaning of this outrage! James and Lily Potter? Whatever trickery you're up to Dumbledore, stop it this instant." Fudge demanded.

"This is no trick Cornelius. Just like Lord Voldemort, James and Lily Potter have returned from the grave." Dumbledore said.

"I don't believe this." Fudge said.

"Feel free to question them under the use of veritaserum. I am certain they will not protest." Dumbledore said and both James and Lily nodded.

Fudge looked indignant, but nonetheless relented and had his secretary bring in 2 vials of the truth potion and the antidote.

James and Lily drank their potion and prepared themselves for questioning.

"You, what is your full legal name?" Fudge asked James.

"James Fleamont Potter." James said in a emotionless voice.

Fudge still was not convinced and then asked "If you really are James Potter, you'll be able to tell me the job you worked before going into hiding."

"I was an auror for the ministry of magic." James said.

"Who was your secret keeper?" Fudge asked.

"Peter Pettigrew. And before you protest minister, Sirius Black was never our secret keeper. That was a bluff we used, thinking it was the perfect plan to keep us safe. It was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed us and he framed Sirius for it." James said.

"He is under veritaserum Cornelius, so you know he's telling the truth." Dumbledore said.

"Very well, it appears that you are James Potter and that Black is innocent of betraying you, but he still murdered Pettigrew and 12 other muggles." Fudge said.

"No, Sirius is an innocent man. Pettigrew is the one who killed those muggles and he faked his own death." James said.

"Than how come no one has seen a trace of him since the incident?" Fudge asked, hoping he did not have a good answer, otherwise he'll look foolish for convicting an innocent man without a trial.

"Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus. He can transform into a rat and the reason I know that is because I'm also an unregistered animagus. I take the form of a stag." James said.

"I assume that Black is also an unregistered animagus?" Fudge asked, since now he certain that this was the real James Potter and that Sirius Black was innocent.

"Yes." James said.

"Very well, Sirius Black will be cleared of all charges and compensated handsomely for the mistake, but he will receive a fine for being an illegal animagus, as will you." Fudge said before finally turning to Lily.

"What is your full legal name?" Fudge asked.

"Lily Sara Evans-Potter." Lily said.

"What career did you lead before going into hiding?" Fudge asked.

"I was also an auror for the ministry." Lily said.

"Very well, you 2 are clearly James and Lily Potter." Fudge said as he administered the antidote.

"I just thought of something that would clear up this whole Voldemort thing once and for all." James said.

"What?" Fudge asked.

"Bring Harry here and administer Veritaserum to him and then ask him if Voldemort has returned." James said.

"I like that idea. An open confession that he's lying will do perfectly. Fetch him at once." Fudge said.

Dumbledore and used his wand to send a patronus message.

A few minutes later, Harry appeared in the fireplace.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Harry, Fudge is going to administer veritaserum to you and then ask you if Voldemort has returned." Lily explained.

Harry nodded and consented to take the truth potion.

"Now, Harry, did you or did you not see You-Know-Who return the night of the third task of the triwizard tournament?" Fudge asked.

"I did. I watched Pettigrew murder Cedric Diggory and then watched as he made a potion consisting of Voldemort's father's bones, Pettigrew's own hand and my blood. I watched as Voldemort rose from the cauldron and summoned his death eaters." Harry said.

Fudge looked horrified, since now he had no choice to accept that You-Know-Who had returned.

"Thank you Harry." Fudge said as he gave Harry the antidote.

"I assume that you'll be putting things straight in the prophet and begin taking the steps I told you to take earlier on after Harry's return." Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, though I am not certain if I will be in power long enough to do so." Fudge said.

"You should've listened to me to begin with Fudge." Harry said as he and his family headed towards the fireplace and floo'd back to 12 Grimmauld Place.


	6. Chapter 6

While everyone was eating breakfast in the kitchen, an owl flew through the window with a late edition of the daily prophet.

"Check this out. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Returns. Minister Cornelius Fudge submitted a statement this morning saying that new evidence has come to light showing that You-Know-Who is indeed alive and among us once again, as Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter have been saying for months. For full article, see page 12." Hermione said, reading the prophet aloud.

"I think things are finally going our way. I wish I could be there to see the look on Malfoy's face when his father is hauled off to Azkaban." Harry said with a grin.

"You and me both Harry." Arthur said with a grin.

"Anything else?" Lily asked.

"Yes, there are 2 more headlines. James and Lily Potter Returned! Sirius Black Innocent. Just like He-who-must-not-be-named, Harry Potter's parents James and Lily Potter have returned to life. This miracle has also yielded new information regarding the case of Sirius Black. It appears that Black is not the monster we all believed, for instead, he was an innocent man framed for crimes by the true culprit, Peter Pettigrew, of whom Black was wrongly convicted of killing 14 years ago. See page 17 for more information." Hermione said.

"Well, now that we've sorted that out, James, we need to find a place to live." Lily said.

"What about my parents' house. Since they've both passed away, it's mine now and technically it is our family's ancestral home. It's got just as many protective charms on it as this place, not to mention it's larger and most likely been much more well taken care of this place." James said.

Lily nodded and said "Why don't you go up there after breakfast and see what sort of shape it's in and see if it's ideal for human inhabitation."

James nodded as he returned to eating.

* * *

After breakfast, James returned to his childhood home on the other side of London. The Potter Estate was a small bit of land located on the outskirts of London, away from the muggles, though still within a decent distance of them, just like the Burrow. The estate itself was made up of a huge house that made both 4 Privet Drive and 12 Grimmauld Place look like tool sheds, along with a small bit of land that contained a small wood that James had used to practice quidditch when he was a child.

As James walked up to the house, he couldn't help but notice how well taken care of it looked. Someone had obviously been keeping it running all these years. At first, James couldn't figure out who it could've been before he remembered that there was 4th occupant of the house when he was growing up besides himself and his parents.

"Nigel." James called out and suddenly a house elf appeared.

"Master James. You is returned. Nigel is so happy to see you sir. But where is Mistress Lily and young Master Harry?" Nigel asked.

"With Sirius. Nigel, you seem to have taken good care of this place since everyone's been gone. I assume it's fit human inhabitation?" James asked.

"Yes sir. Even after all his masters had left him, Nigel has kept this estate well taken care of in hopes that they would return and you is." Nigel said.

"That's right, my family is going to be moving into the house today, I just came by now to make sure the house was suitable for living today." James said.

"Nigel will prepare for his master's return at once." Nigel said, bowing to James before disapparating with a crack.

* * *

"Well?" Lily asked when James returned.

"The house is in perfect condition. Apparently Nigel has been keeping the place in shape in the hopes that his masters would return." James said.

"Who's Nigel?" Harry asked.

"Our house elf." James said.

"Why did you have to say that in front of Hermione?" Ron groaned, looking at Hermione, who was about to go into another tirade about house elf rights, only for James to put his hand up to silence her.

"Hermione, I know you may think you're doing good, but have you actually spoken to a house elf? There's a reason they mostly like working for their masters for free, and it's not because they've been brainwashed." James said, causing Hermione's mouth to shut immediately.

"We should've gotten that on video. Someone telling Hermione she's wrong." Ron whispered to Harry, who sniggered.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"A relationship between a house elf and their master has benefits for both sides of it. The elf serves their master in anyway required of them, such as performing household chores like cooking and cleaning and in return, the master's magic keeps the elf alive and healthy, protecting it from things like diseases. After a house elf is freed they can only survive for maybe 3 years tops before succumbing to illness, since they don't have an immune system built up, unless they find a new master. The only times a house elf would actually want to be freed is if they've been treated cruelly and dead is preferable." James said.

Hermione looked embarrassed, since she was used to being the one giving lecture, not being lectured herself.

"I feel foolish now." Hermione said.

Lily placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder and said "Our world and the muggle are 2 different things. Before you try to change something in our world based on the beliefs you saw in the muggle world, you need to make sure you fully understand the difference."

Hermione nodded in understanding.


	7. Chapter 7

That afternoon, the entire headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was moved from 12 Grimmauld Place to the Potter Estate, since James had cast the Fidelius charm on the entire property with himself as the secret keeper, since after the whole Wormtail incident, he didn't trust anyone to be his family's secret keeper except himself, and the fact that unlike 12 Grimmauld Place, the Potter Estate had been well taken care of thanks to Nigel keeping it perfectly clean, it was actually inhabitable, so Dumbledore had decided to relocate the order's headquarters to the Estate, which James and Lily had agreed to, since it their home was the most logical place to have headquarters.

So that was why in addition to James, Lily and Harry moving into the Estate, so were Sirius, the Weasleys minus Percy and Charlie, and Hermione were also going to be staying at the Estate as well and Harry was honestly looking forward to being the one who was hosting his friends, rather than it being Ron, and so was Ron, since there was a rumor that everyone would be getting their own rooms at the estate.

* * *

"Well everyone, welcome to Potter Estate." James said as he opened pushed open the doors to the house and showed everyone in.

"Okay Harry, your house definitely puts mine to shame." Ron said as they walked into the house.

Ron was right, as this house was much larger than the burrow and much nicer than 12 Grimmauld Place. The halls were painted a brilliant scarlet and lamps were lit all across the hall up to the staircase.

"That's the kitchen, the dining room, the sitting room and the parlor. Upstairs are the bedrooms, Nigel will show each of you to your rooms." James said, showing them around the house.

* * *

While everyone else was getting settled into their new rooms, (or in Sirius's case, his old room from when he stayed here) James and Lily entered James's old room to see that it had become the house's master bedroom.

"Nigel, what happened to my parents' room? I thought they had the master bedroom." James asked.

"Tis part of the house's magic Master James. When ownership of the estate passes from one generation to the next, the new owner's bedroom becomes the master bedroom, signifying the change in the house's master." Nigel explained.

"I guess that makes sense." James said.

"James, don't you remember the first night I spent here?" Lily asked with a smile.

"Yeah, our parents thought it would be a good idea for you to spend the night here and while we were supposed to stay in different rooms, you wound up sneaking your way in here after you were sure my parents were asleep and that was the first night we consummated our relationship. Trust me, I remember it well." James assured her as he began to kiss her, passionately.

"James, not now." Lily said, trying to hide how much she liked what her husband was doing.

"Why not, Lily, it's nearly 14 years since we've done anything of this sort. Why not now?" James asked.

"Because our son or anyone could just walk in and see what we're doing. I promise you, tonight, once everyone is asleep, I'll make sure it's worth the wait." Lily said with a smile.

"I suppose I can put off my love for you for a few more hours." Jame replied.

"Beside we have yet to go to Ollivanders and get new wands, since we have no idea what became of our old ones." Lily reminded.

"Okay." James agreed.

* * *

"Harry, there's something I want to show you." James said to his son.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"This." James said, showing his son into the parlor to reveal a huge wall that looked like one huge family tree.

"What is this?" Harry asked.

"This is the Potter family tree. Every wizarding family has one in their home." James answered.

"Wow, this is a really big tree Harry said.

James smiled and said "Well, we have a really old family. Let me show you our first known ancestor."

"Linfred Potter." Harry said.

"The first patriarch of the Potter line. He invented 2 potions that are still very useful today, Skele-gro, which you have first hand experience with I hear, and the Pepperup Potion. His son Hardwin Potter married a woman named Iolanthe Peverell, which is actually where our family's invisibility cloak comes from. Our family has been full of great men and women alike. Like your ancestor Ralston Potter and served in the Wizengamot twice, who was one of the staunch advocates of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy or Abraham Potter, one of the first Aurors in the United States of America. Even my own father left his mark by inventing the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. And it seems like you'll be adding on to the list as the boy who lived." James said.

"I never knew our family was so important." Harry said.

"That's because until now, we haven't done anything to that actually warrants being mentioned. We just kind of lay low in the background. That is until the boy with power to destroy Voldemort was born in our family." James said with a grin.

"Wait, if my ancestors have all invented potions, then how come I so lousy at the subject? Especially since Sirius told me mum had a real talent with potions." Harry asked.

"It's called having Snivellus Snape as a teacher. From what Remus has told me, Snape only favors Slytherins and is especially hard on you because you're my son. It's hard to be good at a subject when you have a lousy teacher." James said.

"Makes sense. But I'm really hoping that for once, maybe he'll be useful this year, since it's OWL year." Harry said.

"Trust me, your mum will make sure you pass." James said.

* * *

 **AN: In case you're wondering, I did not make up those facts about the Potter family, I got all that information from**


End file.
